Kennedy Space Center – Your Day at Kennedy Space Center

I have found that it is impossible to see everything at Kennedy Space Center in one day. It is, however, possible to see most of it if you get there early and step lively for the next 8 to 10 hours. Even a delay of a few hours will decrease your chances of seeing as much as possible.

It will help to understand that there are three main components to the KSC experience: the Visitor Complex houses most of the exhibits and the wonderful IMAX films; the bus tours leave from the Visitor Complex and let you explore the working end of the Space Center; the Astronaut Hall of Fame is a separate (and optional) attraction about a mile from the Visitor Center that houses a museum and a number of space-program-themed simulators.

When you arrive at the Visitor Complex, your first stop is the Ticket Plaza where you collect your access badge. Once you have your badge, you proceed through a building called Information Central. This is really just a spacious antechamber containing the Information counter, which doubles as Lost and Found. Pass through this building and you are in the Visitor Complex itself. Kennedy Space Center and the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station cover a great deal of territory. The Visitor Complex, by contrast, is quite small; you can walk from one end to the other in about five minutes. Your visit to Kennedy Space Center will be centered here — except when you leave on the bus tours.